Announcing Transitional Pastor

Welcome to Emerson Wiles who has been called as our Transitional Pastor on August 11, 2013. Emerson just completed a very successful transitional interim pastorate at First Baptist Church, Monks Corner, South Carolina. Prior to his retirement in 2011, he pastored churches in Tennessee and Hawaii for 29 years. He is a graduate of Tennessee Tech University and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Emerson and his wife, Mary, have been married for 42 years. They have four grown children and six grandchildren.

Emerson will serve in the capacity as our transitional pastor until a new full-time senior pastor has been called which is estimated to take about eighteen months to two years. He is not a candidate for the senior pastor position. During this transitional period, he will lead our church through specific steps toward a healthy beginning for a new pastor. Some of these steps include providing leadership to the pastoral and support staff, performing ministerial duties such as weddings and funerals, helping the church to clarify our purpose and our vision, helping the church deal with matters that hinder our future health and progress, and by providing guidance to elders and to the transitional task force as well as to a future pastoral search committee.

He will be serving on a part-time basis, primarily on Sundays and Wednesday nights leading our worship services. He will be available for pastoral staff and leadership team meetings, and he plans to also be available to meet with church people by appointment once he moves into our mission house at the end of August. These appointments can be made by contacting Kelly, in the church office.

For more information on the role of the Transitional Pastor and the church's role in this relationship, please see our covenant agreement.